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Other Newspapers from Abilene, Texas

Other Editions from Saturday, April 3, 1954

Abilene Reporter-News, The (Newspaper) - April 3, 1954, Abilene, Texas FAIR AND WARMER Abilene (A- EVENING FINAL WITHOUT OR WITH OFFENSE TO FRIENDS OR FOES WE SKETCH YOUR WORLD EXACTLY AS IT Byron VOL. LXXIII, No. 291 Associated Press (AP) ABILENE, TEXAS, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 3, PAGES PRICE DAILY 5c, SUNDAY lOc Veteran Of Gray Is Dead AUSTIN, Tex. (Si Thomas Evans Riddle, private in the In the Army of Tennessee, dough- ty admiral in the Nebraska Navy, and proud colonel of the Confeder- ate Air Force, is dead, today. Just two weeks shy of 'his 108th birthday, Riddle died last night at p.m., CST, to leave only lour surviving veterans of the Civ- il War. The white-haired little man with tte shy, pixie smile had been ill since January. First he had pneu- monia, then a failing heart, but his grim battle for survival as tounded doctors. They said old age lulled him. He died at the Texas Confeder- ate home for men where he had played dominoes, met old friends and newsmen, and stayed in bed most of the time since January 1950. He had wanted to live to be 110 and to die at his home in Wichita Falls, Tex. He is sched- uled to be buried, his family said today, at Burkburnett, Tex. When fcas not been decided. Got Five Bullets Riddle, for 18 months of the Civ- il War, served as a private in Co. 1, 22nd Regiment, Army of Tennessee. He liked to tell of his days under Robert E. Lee and kept a picture of the Southern com- mander over his bed. "Five times I thought my life called. was not worth a he re- "Snipers were shooting at me from the tops of trees. I didn't know I was hit, but my general says to me, 'Thomas, you're full of bullets.' and I looked and had been shot five times in my side." Besides his other mythical titles. Kiddie also held colonelcies on the staffs of the governors of Texas and Louisiana. He proudly pointed to framed citations on the wall oE his room here attesting to his various "ranks." Parties Big Events But the biggest events in his re- cent years were his birthday par- ties. With a dean shave, a Con- federate tie and polished slippers he sat on the side of his bed and cheerfully received his guests. Al- though he could barely hear, even with a hearing aid, he always had answers to questions. He was tickled pink when he received several proposals for marriage last year after a lawyer filed a claim for him for part of a multi-million dollar race horse fortune! The petition said the old soldier was a half brother of Man OTVar's owner, the late Samuel D. Riddle. The "colonel" had been married three times. "Outlived two of them and divorced he would lay with shining eyes. Of the rbur survivors of tho bloody War between the States, Walter W. Williams, 111, of Frank- lin, Tex., is the oldest. The others are Albert Woolson, 215 E. Fifth St., Duluth, Minn., the sole Union survivor; and Confederates Wil- liam A. Lundy, Laurel Hill, Fla.; and John Sailing, Slant, Va. But They Really Cleaned Off Tag PHILADELPHIA Arthur Domenick ordered Louis Boccutto to clean up the dirty, il- legible license plate on Boccutto's pickup truck. Sure, said Boccutto. He pulled out a rag, poured a little kerosene on it, then bent down to wipe off the tag. The pickup truck, loaded with drums of kerosene, went up in flames. Boccutto and Domenick were speechless, but unhurt. The truck was destroyed. TEES OFF ON CANCER President Eisenhower gets some expert advice on his golf grip from -Babe Zaharias, famous athlete, at the White House. The President is using the "sword of hope" of the American Cancer Society pre- sented to him by Mrs. Zaharias after Eisenhower officially opened the 1954 cancer crusade. CRIME RATE SOARS Dallas Frightened, Grand Jury Says DALLAS city's popula- tion is terror-stricken by a high crime rate, a Dallas County grand jury report says. T The grand jury charged yester- day that the state's second largest fashion, oil; cotton and manufacturing c e n t e a crime rate so high that "the major- ity of the people are afraid." The Dallas County jail, the re- port added, is so crowded that con- ditions for a bloody riot ?.re ideal. Sheriff Bin Decker agreed. He said the jail, built for 285 prisoners, usually held around 600. A "food riot" occurred several months ago, Decker said. He added that a new annex un- der construction would house 300 more prisoners making jail facili- ties still under minimum require- ments. The grand jury report called for a stepped-up, overall fight against crime. Many people are afraid to move to Dallas, the report contin- ued, because of the high crime rate. Policemen, it said, find it im- possible to adequately cover their beats. Sherman Hunt Jr., Dallas oil- man, was foreman of the grand jury that delivered the report of its three-month term to Criminal Dist. Judge Harold B. Wright. The report "said, "The city police department should be run in ac- cordance with nationally adopted police methods rather than by city council directives." "We do not the report went on, "that police officers are paid a living wage, or a wage commensurate with the danger, Housing Goes to Fight Senate WASHINGTON in House, the Eisenhower admin- istration looked to the Senate to- day to rescue its low-rent public housing program. An allegiance of Southern Demo- crats and many Republicans fought shoulder to shoulder yesterday in repelling persistent efforts of Northern Democrats and Republi- can leaders to write at least part cf the President's public housing proposals into a general housing bill. After a two-day battle, the legis- lation was passed, 352-36, without any public housing feature and stripped of an Eisenhower request for the right to raise interest rates on GI home loans from the present 4'A per cent maximum. In other housing fields, including Slum clearance, the bill went to the Senate pretty much as the admin: istration wanted it. Recent history gives the admin- istration grounds for hope that the Senate will come to its aid. Last year, for example, the Kouie approved no funds for build- ing public housing during tht flt- cal year. The Senate bill, passed later, provided for units. Conferee! of the two housei got together and fashioned unit compromise. However, the administration year will be without the help of Sen. Robert A. Taft a potent ally of public housing sup- porters in past years. Taft died last summer. In one area the House gave the President even more than he asked for. Its bill would let the Chief Executive drop down payments on home loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) be- low the levels he suggested. Before the bill was passed, the public housing dispute was re- solved by the House when it de- feated on a 211-176 roll call vote a Democratic motion to give Eisenhower just what he had to build 000 new units spread in increments of over the next four years. In this last-gasp move, 127 Demo- crats were reinforced by 48 Repub- licans and 1 independent They ".'ere beaten by 150 Republicans and 61 Democrats. Earlier, House Republican lead- ers had sought without success to put through a compromise.amend- ment designed to permit the ad- ministration to erect units over the next two years. They as- sured the House this would be ic- cepUble to the President and they buttressed this with a promise to take a later look at the second half of the original plan. hard work and abuse connected with their duties." Local newspapers were also crit- have many times seen results of outstanding police the jurors said, "yet our papers seldom mention anything but criticism." The report called for a larger police force, said prisoners, should be made to work to pay. for their food, and asked state-wide reforms including more state highway pa- trolmen. 40 Are Killed In Pusan Fire PUSAN, Korea three-hour fire swept through a refugee- crowded shanty section of this port city today, leaving 40 persons dead and at least homeless.- About 100 persons were injured seriously enough to require medi- cal assistance. Nine hundred fam- ilies lost their homes, Army offi- ciate said. Search crews probed for .addi- tional bodies. The flames for a time threat- ened the largest Army quarter- master depot in Korea. Two Ko- rean warehouses were destroyed. The flames leveled a section of packing box shanties known to American soldiers here as "Little Chicago." Korean National police said the blaze started when gas escaping from a leaky main was touched off. by two carpenters. Huge Crowd Greets Returning Captives BARCELONA, Spain es- timated million persons thronged Barcelona's waterfront last night for a rousing, emotional welcome for 286 Spanish prisoners return- ing from 11 years in Soviet con- centration camps. Most of the internees were Flan- gists who had volunteered for the Blue Division that went to Ger- many in 1941 to fight against the Russians. THE WEATHER TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WEATHER BUREAU ABILENE AND VICINITY Partly cloudy, continued mild tonight and Sun- day. High temperature Saturday near 90 dCErees. bow Saturday night 50-M. High Sunday 85. NORTH and CENTRAL WEST Partly cloudy and Tarm this afternoon, toniRht and Sunday. EAST and SOUTH CENTRAL Partly cloudy and this afternoon, lRht and Sunday. Frl. P.M. 85 88 TEMPERATURES Sat. A.M. 60 88 61 88 59 87 53 84 59 79 68 C2 70 5t M 61 _ Sunset last night p.m. Sunrise today a.m. Sunset tonight p.m. Barometer reading at a.m. 3839 Relative humidity at a.m. Maximum temperature for 21-hour per- iod coding at a.m. M. Minimum temperature for H-hour lod at a.m. 65. Five Convicts Escape From Central Prison Ho Indictment Made by Duval Grand Jurors SAN DIEGO, Tex.. Du- val County grand jury said it could find no evidence that could support "any indictment against a public official" of the county. "Not said State Atty. Gen. John Ben Shepperd yesterday. The grand jury added that Shep- perd himself put stumbling blocks in the way of its Investigations. exclaimed the at- torney general. "1 feel sorry for the-grand jury Shepperd continued, "because- they are so tied up with the political machine in Duval County and with George Parr they couldn't do anything else." Parr -is the long-time, reputed boss of Duval County's political and financial affairs. State and federal agencies have been prob- ing his activities in South Texas Tor months. Shepperd said last night that the state probe would continue. He and Gov. Allan Shivers both have vow- ed "to clean up the mess in Duva! County." BoUa have mentioned "bossism" in the bloc voting area Jver which members of the Pan- family have held sway for two gen- erations. 'Did As Predicted' "They did exactly what I pre- dicted Feb. Shepperd said of ihe grand jury report -yesterday. "Whitewash the he said. "They not only wouldn't indict he continued, "but be- cause of business, political, family and economic conditions couldn't do anything "At least five members of the jury were so connected with mat- ters under investigation that they were in the position of Investigat- ing themselves." Shepperd has charged wide- spread law violations in the county, including misuse of public funds. State Auditor C. H. Cavness, called Into the probe by Shepperd, report- ed "apparant irregularities" after an audit. The federal probes made and ap- jarently still under way are into Parr's income tax returns and by postal inspectors. Parr has said that the charges and investigations under way were nspired by political ambitions of Shivers and Shepperd. Shepperd, le says, wants to be governor and Shivers, Parr claims, wants to go to the U. S. Senate. Jury Dismissed A. S. Broadfoot, of Bonham, act- ng 79th District Judge, received the grand jury's report yesterday and then dismissed the body. 3roadfoot recently replaced C. Woodrow Laughlin, a Parr-backed candidate when he was elected, l-aughlin was ousted by the State Supreme Court on the petition of 1 lawyers of the district, headed by Jacob S. Floyd Sr. of Alice. The petitioning attorneys had claimed that Laughlin put "stum- rting blocks" in the way of an nvestigation into the shooting death of Floyd's son. Floyd, a Parr political foe, said his son's death resulted from a bullet meant for him. The Duval jury used the phrase 'stumbling block" in saying Shep- >erd refused to cooperate with hem. It said the only time the attorney general appeared before t was when he said he was going to try to dismiss it. Shepperd tried unsuccessfully to do that He told Laughlin he didn't want to give evidence to the jury and have it do a whitewash job. Laughlin, refusing to dismiss the ?rand jury, told it to probe deeply iito Shepperd's charges. No Missourian, but He Had to Be Shown NEW YORK magistrate was not from Missouri but he still had to be shown. So blonde strip tease dancer Mrs. Dorothy Barker, accused of an indecent performance at a Queens night club, did her act in whittled her wearing apparej down to black panties and glued-on sequins. It happened yesterday in Long island City Court, Queens. Said Magistrate J. Irwin Sha- piro: "I'm just a hick from the rock- aways (Long Island beach com- munities) and sometimes in the summer I stand on the beach and see girls in Bikini Bathing suits As for the 22-year-cld Mrs. Bark- er Shapiro said her act was "dis- puting and insinuating" 'completely in bad taste" but neither obscene within the meaning of the law. "The court reluctantly dismisses the added. SLAPPED A striking dock worker slaps at a cop and got slapped back in a skirmish on the North River Pier 84 in New York. Another man, at right, gives him moral support from a safe distance. The fight started when strikers threw rocks at a truck hauling non-strik- ers to work on the pier. No one was seriously hurt. Stevedores Halt Expensive Strike NEW YORK M--Longshoremen I circles to be hired. I Assn., independent, which spon- swarmed back to work today, end- Police patrolled the sored the strike in a jurisdictional ing a 29-day strike that cost the atmosphere was pescetul .dispute -with- S rival American port of New York an estimated. in contrast with the picketing, jeer- Federation of Labor ILA, callec half billion dollars. (ing and brawling of the past few off the walkout unconditionally Hiring bosses stepped in front of, weeks, the piers and blew their whistles! The Ocean Monarch, first ship at the traditional time of 7.55 a.m. j in today, docked uneventfully at The men, without pay for almost Pier 97. a month, eagerly formed in half I The International Longshoremens French Beat Back New Red Assaults HANOI. Indochina weary defenders of Dien Bien Phu beat off wild new Vietminh attacks to- day. They held the vCommunist-led rebels at bay a mile from tha heart of the besieged dust bowl fortress. French counterattacks, backed by tanks and heavy artillery fire, shattered every Vietminh mass as- sault trying to crack the key de- fenses of the fortress, where many fighters have gone for five days without rest. In Paris, a French news agency report said Vietminh regulars, who invaded Cambodia yesterday, cap- tured two Sai and Siem were heading on for Stung Treng, on the Mekong River. A brief French communique said repeated Vietminh attempts last night to break through the last- ditch defenses had failed. In tidal waves of infantry, braving mur- derous French fire, the Commu- nist-led rebels had pushed to with- in a mile of the fortress' center in some places. The outnumbered French Union garrison clung desperately to a narrowing patch of trenches, bunkers and barbed wire. But they were in grave danger. The posi- tion's outer defenses were wrecked its fortifications riddled by Vietminh artillery which poured in endlessly. Vietminh casualties soared as their Communist commanders hurled a human sea of attackers against Dien Bien Phu, trying to engulf it for the first major Red victory in the Indochina War. A French army source estimated that the Vietminh have lost killed or wounded swept down on the fortress in mid-March. The French claimed of those were killed. The French have not announced their own losses. (In Paris, where such informa- tion is sifted and released, officials said the defenders of Dien Bien Phu had suffered "heavy" losses, but light by comparison with those of the enemy.) The most serious threat to the fortress loomed in the northwestern sector of the dust bowl plain, where the Vietminh hold one posi- tion for launching attacks. It was feared a massive charge from there and a break through might carry the attackers into the key center area. Heavy and violent Vietminh as- saults raged throughout the night, increasing in tempo in the early hours before dawn. But French guns hammered them back. The French command said its position was substantially th" same as last night. last night. Independent ILA officials said they did so because of a govern- ment notice that their union would be ruled off the ballot otherwise in a forthcoming waterfront bar- gaining election. They denounced the government action as illegal but said they had no alternative but to accept. The election date has not been set. Strike leaders also were under heavy pressure from the longshore- men whose funds to feed their families were exhausted. The shipping industry placed the port's loss through the strike at 500 'million dollars. Value of business lost in cargo diversion from New York to other ports such as Baltimore, Phila- delphia and Norfolk was estimated by the New York State Chamber of Commerce at Loss in wages to the men, who get S2.27 an hour, ran to1 probably more than 50 million dollars. Scores of ships lay idle at a cost, in loss of business, estimated by shippers at a day each. The trucking industry figured its loss at 25 million dollars. Approximately drivers who ordinarily take cargo to and from piers either were laid off or worked only a day or two a week. With sugar cargoes tied up by the strike, refinery workers were laid off. Losses In perishable cargoes tied up in the strike have not been estimated. Murderer Leads Break During Fog HOUSTON convicts, led by a life term killer, broke out of Central Prison Farm No. 1 at Sugar Land in a thick fog early to- day. Four sawed their way out of a prison tank. The fifth, the ringleader, was working the night shift in the pris- on laundry in the same building. They met, donned guard's cloth- Ing, then hoisted a ladder and scaled the seven foot high prison wall to freedom. The escaped convicts are: Vernon Lee Joiner, 32, serving 99 years for robbery out of ComaJ County. Serving Long Terms Boyce James Wallace, 24, serv- ing 23 years for robbery and bur- zlary out Dallas County. Billy Raymond Bedford, 30, serv- ing seven years for burglary out of Tarrant County. Robert J. Robins, 36, serving three years for burglary out of Bexar County. Virgil T. Winders, 33, ierving 33 years for robbery out of Comal County. Prison records clerk J. C. Rob- erts said the men made the break in a chowder-thick fog. Armed guards patrol the seven foot wall, lie said. "The fog was just too said. Using Stolen Car A 1952 two-tone Chevrolet was reported stolen early today in Sugar Land, near the prison, farm. Roberts said he believes the es- capees got away in the stolen car. The ladder was found early to- day leaning against the prison wall; Roberts said details were not known howjiack saws might have been tank. -saging" Hoberts said, "they.picked1-'up Joiner in the laundry, crept across the pris- on yard, hoisted the ladder and scaled the wall." Toddler, 1, Dies in Ocean HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. US- Little Michael McDonald. lived only a few houses from the beach. And yesterday was a, beautiful day. Somehow the chubby, 19-month- iold toddler got out of his fenced yard. He was there when his moth- er checked just 10 minutes ear- lier, she frantically telephoned po- lice. Then Miss Beverly Murdock, 22, ran six blocks to the police station for help. She said she had seen the boy's body bobbing in the ocean amid a clump of seaweed near shore. When she returned with officers, the .body apparently had been swept out to sea. Her description of the boy's size and clothes matched that given fay the mother. Lifeguards searched the waters while the anguished parents, John and Lillian McDonald, 'watched tearfully at the surf's edge. They were still there after darkness forced an end to the search. It continues today. German Ambassador, Cousin Get Together ST. LOUIS German am-' bassador to the United States and a second cousin got together for the first time here yesterday on a speaker's platform. Dr. Heii.z L. Krekeler was the main speaker at a meeting of the St. Louis Council on World Affairs. The Hev. Ludwig Krekeler, 78- year-old Lutheran minister of Gil- lespie, m., delivered the benedic- tion. The two had corresponded but iad not met before yesterday. The minister came to this country 57, years ago, before the was born. Both came from the German town of Hoexter, Westphalia. rVOUNDED EVACUATED IN Union soldiers of the besieged Dien Bien Phu garrison load wounded comrades aboard a waiting helicopter for evacuation Jrom the batlefront. French sources say the Communist-led Vietminh forcei fired on hospital planes during the siege.